To add a false tail to your horse, you will first need to make sure you've got the right match. Read these slides from Horseland.com.au to find out how to properly select a false tail and how to put it in.
Transcript of How to Add a False Tail to Your Horse
1. How to Add a False Tail to Your Horse
2. The first thing which is important when using false tails is
to find the correct match for your horse. Champion Tails has
produced a selector chart which is great. If the pony is only a
small pony and has a great tail but it has a lot of colors in it, a
false tail may be the answer.
3. When I select a tail, I hold the bottom of her tail out and
go right to the center piece. Pull a chunk of center piece out and
go back to your selector to find what matches. It may be a
reasonable match but you could ask Champion Tails to incorporate a
little bit more white in for your horse for example.
4. When you contact your local company, they will ask you what
number it is and you can say, a little bit more white, a little bit
more red. Thats how you use your selector. Always go to the centre
of the tail. To put it in, comb your tail out thoroughly so there
are no knots. Then you divide your
5. tail back again and go right at the center and collect a
reasonable amount of hair, not a huge amount but enough hair that
if she flicks her tail, shes not going to flick it out. You divide
it into three and you plait it down. The plait must be tight. You
cannot have a loose plait because if you have a
6. loose plait, your false tail will drop and you dont want
that. Weve all seen those disasters in the arena: tails dropping
out and stewards coming across, everyone seeing it on the ring and
not owning the tail. It hasnt happened to me but I've seen it
happen to plenty.
7. Once you've plaited your tail down about four inches, get
two rubber bands and band that plait together, so you have a
free-falling plait. Make sure your rubber bands are done on tight.
Dont do two or three laps and think that is enough because the
plaits can come undone. I always use two because I am a bit scared
that it will come
8. undone. I always use two because I am a bit scared that it
will come undone. You pick up your tail which has been
colour-coordinated to match this ponys tail. It may be a tiny bit
different to the selector, perhaps it has more gray in it. I have a
latch hook that you can get from any hardware
9. store that I use. It has a latch hook at the end of it and a
wooden handle. I have my things on strings because Im inclined to
lose them. Even my combs have a hole bored in them so I dont lose
them. You hang them around your neck. Your combs and scissors all
go round your neck.
10. Then I hold up a loop of the tail up to get the correct
length and you run it down. Then I push my latch hook under the
bottom of the plait and come out through the top. I put the loop of
the tail in it, drop the latch down and pull it back through. Then,
the easy bit really is doing like a half hitch with her own tail
through the loop. You
11. push it through and pull it up and pull it down tight and
that's your tail in. To finish it off, you comb it out again. Check
your length. Then Ill get a pair of scissors and cut it off
squarely. Then when you finish the top of the tail, which you have
already pulled and made nice and neat. When you
12. are pulling the tail, it makes a nice even line. Then you
spray it with a bit of a hair spray. Rub it down with your hand and
put a bandage. A tip to keep your tail bandage up, do it firm
13. at the bottom. So many people only do the bandage up at the
top. Do it firmly at the bottom and go down first and you will find
your tail bandage won't come off nearly as easily. We go down
towards the end of the dock, and then we start coming up. Always
use a cotton bandage, dont use a
14. nylon bandage because when it is a hot day, it pulls tight,
a nylon pulls tight and your horse has a very, very sore tail. You
will see so many horses swishing and jamming their tails because
its hurting them. Always use a good quality cotton bandage.
15. For a small pony you're going to go around a few times.
Then you go all the way down to the bottom. Always make sure your
Velcro, which most bandages today have, is at the bottom, not up
underneath them, rubbing them and hurting them. You must always
think of your horses comfort. When you go to ride them, its very
important that
16. they've been comfortable. You leave it until just before
you go to class, brush the tail out and make sure its hanging
straight. If theres a little bit of a wind, you have to take care.
Hold your tail very straight and when you cut it off, make sure
your hand is running down the outside
17. of the tail. When you cut it, you cut it on a slight angle
to the bottom inside of the tail. Just cut it a little bit more
inside and the edges because when a horses tail falls, the inside
falls shorter than the outside, so you want inside just minimal.
Make sure you cut off with a very good sharp pair of scissors. A
little brush out and it is ready.
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